Women's Basketball

Christianna Carr leads Syracuse’s defense in strong performance against Morgan State

Anya Wijeweera | Photo Editor

Christianna Carr's double-double in Syracuse's victory over Morgan State was her first since Feb. 24.

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Early in the second quarter, Christianna Carr stole her third pass of the night from Morgan State’s Dahnye Redd inside the paint. Christianna easily maneuvered her way to the other side of the court and finished the coast-to-coast play with a leisurely layup to put Syracuse up by 14 points.

Later in the quarter, in the midst of a scoring drought for the Orange, Christianna bodied a Morgan State forward and dished it out to Chrislyn Carr. While Chrislyn ended up missing the layup, Christianna was there for the rebound to hand it back to Chrislyn. For a team lacking size and a true center, Christianna — just 6-foot-1 — navigated the paint like the center Syracuse had last year in Kamilla Cardoso this year in Priscilla Williams, before her injury.

“I thought Chrissy played really aggressive, especially in the second half,” acting head coach Vonn Read said. “That’s a pretty solid game from her and that’s what we’re going to expect.”

Syracuse knows they don’t have the size to compete with teams like Notre Dame. Alaysia Styles — Read’s starting center — and Eboni Walker are the rotating personnel inside the paint to man down the 2-3 zone and collect offensive rebounds to extend possessions. But Read said Christianna is someone he wants to slot down low. Syracuse (2-1, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) did that while handling Morgan State (0-4) 79-60 on Wednesday.



With Kansas State, Christianna averaged just over 96 rebounds per year and left the program 28 points shy of 1,000 career points as a Wildcat. For an SU team with a “center by committee” and guards that are tasked with rebounding, she’s become a swiss army knife. She finished the game with a career-high 15 rebounds and a double-double, her first since Feb. 24 against Texas Tech.

Early in the first quarter against the Bears, Syracuse was searching for its first basket. Christianna stood with her hands out wide at the top of the transition press that SU utilized until the final buzzer of its win. She tracked Adia Brisker as she crossed half court then swatted the ball away for her first steal. She muffed on the uncontested layup but muscled through a Bears defender to grab her own board.

Christianna had a rocky start, giving up two turnovers in the first half and only knocking down a layup and one free throw during that time. But as the game progressed, she became a defensive weapon for the Orange, contributing on defense and finishing with 10 defensive rebounds. In the third quarter, she showed that she can bat a pass away inside the 3-point line and become the spark plug to an outlet pass. Later that quarter, she kept her head up while driving, and when she saw no clear path to a layup, passed out to Murray for another 3.

“It’s nice to have help to stretch us out, we can do a lot of four or five out,” Murray said.

In the third quarter, Morgan State started to favor Christianna, with players leaking outside to keep an eye on her instead of Styles. This opened up lanes and allowed the Orange to score more than half of their points from inside the paint. It also allowed Styles to finish with 12 points and Teisha Hyman to grab nine rebounds.

On one play late in the third quarter, Christianna spread out to the right corner, tucked behind the 3-point line and away from the ball. Styles crashed inside, giving Hyman an easy opportunity for a pass over her head down low for a layup.

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After watching the tape of the ending of Sunday’s game that featured a 21-0 run from Notre Dame, Read said a focus was on ensuring the team was doing what it should to stop “runs.” Christianna’s play on both ends of the court did that, and her presence under the basket showed Read another option to stop runs. Earlier in the third quarter, Christianna ran toward the paint, then noticed a 3-point shot wasn’t going in and followed in along the left side of the baseline. She leaped over her defender and pulled it down with two hands to begin an SU possession.

“It’s nice to have someone as big as me,” Styles said. “(Christianna), with her body, is more solid than I am, so it definitely helps. Her presence down there is incredibly beneficial as well.”

Christianna also benefited from the high press and Syracuse’s desire to “play in the passing lanes” as a ploy to force steals. She ended with four on the night, many of them coming outside the paint.

As the game winded down and Read put in a few of his backups, Christianna stayed on the court, hurling toward her first double-double in a Syracuse uniform. Alaina Rice dished out an assist to her down low, and Christianna finished with a layup to give the Orange an 18-point advantage. Then she collected an easy rebound, and on the next possession off a swing pass via Nyah Wilson, Christianna drained a 3 to cap off a 17-point performance.

“You kind of have to pick your poison, who’s going to shoot it on what night,” Murray said. “Having someone of (Christianna’s) size being able to step out, that gives us an advantage.”





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